Question from a AutoCAD drafter / aspiring Blender 3D modeler. Is there any draw tools in Blender that are similar to AutoCad?
I don't have any experience with AutoCad but I can tell you that these all sound perfectly possible. 

Offsetting sounds like simple duplication. Shift-D the object or part of the mesh you want to copy and then move it, restricting to an axis (via X, Y, or Z hotkeys) to keep it parallel. If you want the new mesh to always resemble the old you can make a linked duplicate with alt-d. The new mesh will mirror the old one any time you edit it.

As a 'base point' blender has the '3D cursor', that red and white circle you always see. Left clicking places the cursor and then by pressing the period key (not on the numpad but on the keypad) your transformations will use it as a 'pivot point' (blender lingo). If left clicking isn't accurate enough you can make the cursor snap to the grid or to any vertex or object center you select (shift-s to bring up the snapping menu).

Blender is extremely capable, but probably has different names for most tools. It has less of a focus on precision and more on artistry than CAD programs from what I understand, but you can make it work. I've watched interviews wherein car engineers and designers started their visualization with blender and then brought it into AutoCad to tweak later.